Final Doctor visit & Carrabbas

We made the drive down to Frederick for my doctor's appointment today and he pronounced me ready to go.  I will have to treat the nose area for a couple more weeks and see a dermatologist when we get to Tucson to have him/her check out how well the healing process is going.  I checked the "job" today with a mirror and it looks like I will have an indentation on the lower part of the area, but not too bad.  I can live with that.  

We had arranged to meet with Gerry's sister Darlene and bil, Tom after the appointment for dinner at Carrabbas.  Gerry and Darlene had dinner at the Concord, NC Carrabbas and enjoyed their meals so it was chosen as the meeting place.  We arrived very early and had almost the whole restaurant to ourselves and it was great since it was so quiet.  Our meals weren't anything to write home about and were below what we expected.  The Olive Garden is a better value and also the meals taste significantly better.  

We haven't had a chance to visit with Darlene and Tim much this summer due to all the work being done at the cabin, doctor appointments and the fact that they live about 120 miles from us.  When we lived in the DC area we would see them about every other weekend and many times sooner than that.  We chatted the whole 2 hours and still had more things to say, but it was time for them to hit the road.

They were visiting their airplane at the repair shop in Hagerstown to check on progress.  The plane was damaged in a storm last year and has been in the shop since then, waiting for parts.  The plane is about 50 years old, it isn't like ordering them from Auto Zone and picking them up the same day.  It does look like the repairs will be finished this year sometime and that will make them very happy.  They are a whole lot more patient than I am.  Good luck guys.

We stopped by Cassie & Jack's to visit for a while and then called it a day.  It was a long and tiring day, but getting my release from the doctor made it worth while.

Sorry for such a mundane posting, but it should perk up on Monday when we get on the road.

Slow days

I wish I could write about all the interesting things we have been doing the past three days, but then I would have to make up stories.  We haven't done much of interest and nothing to write about.  Some days and weeks are like that.  At least we don't have any new calamities going on in our lives.

We did visit our lawyer and get some paperwork updated and that is a load off our shoulders.  It was something we have been planning on doing all summer and never got around to finishing it.  We can put that task in the completed column.

Another task that needs to be taken care of is getting new passports.  When we lived and worked overseas it was easy getting a passport renewed through the Embassy, but that avenue isn't available to us now.  We picked up the applications last year and it is still on our to do list.  Once I get this nose problem fixed up we will get our pictures taken and apply for the passports.  Hopefully.

Thursday I go in for another checkup on the nose operation and hope I get some good or encouraging news.  The thought of spending much more time up here at the cabin isn't pleasant for either of us.  It is fast approaching the cold weather that we like to avoid and the last thing we want to do is be here when it snows.  If we have to stay a lot longer, we may move the motor home to a local campground and stay there.  At least we would have fewer miles to drive and have TV reception.  

We are meeting our friends the Nolans for an early dinner on Thursday after the doctor appointment.  They will be driving up from the Rockville area and we will be down in Frederick, MD at the doctor which is about midway for all of us.  It looks like The Olive Garden will have the pleasure of our company.

See how short I can make this blog when I don't have anything to say?  

Have a great night.

National Firemen Memorial Weekend Oct 14-16

We drive by this house just about every time we head down the mountain from our cabin.  We have admired the house and the beautiful setting and snapped this picture today.  Since there has been so much rain lately, we couldn't get the trees at their peak time but you can still see how nice the setting is.


I went to my doctor's appointment today with the expectation that he would say one more visit and then be on my way.  Well, it didn't go quite that way since he said two more visits and if all goes well, then I could be on my way.  If that schedule works out, then we will leave here around October 29 and head south to visit with the Duffs and then on to visit with Barb & Family along with Larry Jr. & Family.  Keep your fingers crossed that I can be cleared by then.

We made a Costco run after the appointment and picked up some specials of items that we needed.  The store was as busy as you would expect on a Christmas shopping weekend.  As a matter of fact, they have Christmas items on the shelves already.  It gets earlier and earlier every year.  We took advantage of buying our gas at $3.31/gallon at the Costco gas station.  It went up .02 from yesterday.

After that we went geocaching for a while and picked up 6 caches along the way home.  Some were interesting and others were downright easy to find.  We prefer a little bit of challenge but it doesn't always work out that way.  The most challenging part of the cache hunting was getting across two lanes of traffic on US 15 which is a very busy 4 lane highway.  

Our destination in that area was the Ott House Bar & Restaurant in Emmitsburg, MD.  The place was mobbed with people two deep at the bar and every table filled.  We had to wait a while for a table for two and finally got seated.  It seemed that 95% of the people in there were firemen or families of firemen.  I asked what was the occasion and found out the the National Fireman Memorial Weekend is this weekend with lots of ceremony and such.  We bought a nice shirt from a fireman from Nebraska who was financing his and another fireman's trip to the Memorial by selling shirts.  

Firemen Memorial Weekend

After enjoying a great meal there we were forced to drive to a local Dairy Queen so Gerry could redeem her free Blizzard coupon.  We are two stuffed people now, but contented.

Who says we don't live an interesting exciting life?  

All in all it was a great day.  See ya!

Day at the Doctors

Gerry and I both had appointments at our Ear, Nose & Throat Dr today. She was going in for her 6 month checkup and I went for a hearing test. I failed. She did well

We had an exciting ride down to the Dr including a super rain storm. When we went up the hills on I-70 we were hydro planing quite a lot. I slowed down considerably and that helped, but everyone else was driving like it was a dry road. We ran in the rainstorm for almost 20 miles before we got out of it. Since the Dr.s office is about 85 miles from the cabin the rain delay slowed us down a lot.

Once we got out of the rain, we were stopped for 10 minutes by two huge tractor trailer trucks hauling I beams for the Cross County Connector highway being constructed. They must really have to plan a lot in detail in order to transport these beams from the foundry to the job site since they are so long and tall. See for yourself. I don't know how they managed to navigate the road they come from since there is a small rotary in the middle of the road about 1/2 mile from this intersection. It would be interesting to see them place these huge I beams in place over the highways they cross. I imagine one would have to stay up late at night to see that. Humm, maybe we can do that since we stay up so late anyway.













Then it was on to the road to the Dr where we ran into a long line at a construction site for the new road. Wow, what else could go wrong. We finally made it to the appointments, however we were a few minutes late.

We made a quick run to the local wine shop and picked up some supplies for Gerry and then met old friends Diane and John for an early dinner at the Olive Garden in Laurel, MD. We hadn't seen them since last year but John and I talk on the phone on a regular basis so we didn't have to spend all the time on catch up chatting. We enjoyed the meal there and headed back to the cabin.

About a mile down the road we ran into a detour and it being rush hour, it was a mess. I had the GPS with me so we plotted another route through alleys and side streets and got around the mess.

On the way back we called bil Tom to check on the status of their dog who underwent surgery yesterday. She came through the surgery minus a part of her jawbone and three teeth, but seems to be on the road to recovery. Hope all goes well with her recovery.

The ride home was uneventful and we had time to photograph an old spring house along the side of the road near Smithsburg, MD. I would like to go back and get some more photos of it in good light since the late shadows hide the pond.